ÄrgervsärgertTell them apart

Quick tell: Ärger is a noun, ärgert is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Ärger” is a noun and “ärgert” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,498
“Ärger” frequency rank
#10,786
“ärgert” frequency rank
14284
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Ärger ärgert
Definition spontane, innere, emotionale Reaktion hochgradiger Unzufriedenheit auf eine Situation, eine Person oder eine Erinnerung, die der Verärgerte lieber anders gesehen hätte 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs ärgern

Where the eye mixes Ärger and ärgert

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Ärger
6 ch
ärgert

Why the eye confuses Ärger with ärgert

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Ärger is [ˈɛʁɡɐ] while ärgert is [ˈɛʁɡɐt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Ärger” sits inside “ärgert”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14284, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Ärger is recorded at frequency rank #3,498, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈɛʁɡɐ]. ärgert is at rank #10,786, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈɛʁɡɐt].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 14284, this pair ranks #1,952,295 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Ärger vs ärgert

Shared letters: egrä. Private to "Ärger": -. Private to "ärgert": t.

"Ärger" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "ärgert" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Ärger" and "ärgert" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Ärger" is a noun and "ärgert" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Ärger" vs "ärgert" - which ranks higher?
"Ärger" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,498 in our German list, against #10,786 for "ärgert". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Ärger" and "ärgert" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Ärger" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ärgert" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,952,295 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Ärger" and "ärgert" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ärgert vs ärmere". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,952,295 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list